FACES: An Advocacy Intervention for African American Parents of Children With Autism.
A short, culturally tuned parent course boosted Black caregivers’ power to win autism services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers created a six-week program called FACES. It teaches Black parents of children with autism how to speak up for services.
The group met in person once a week. Parents learned their rights, practiced asking questions, and built a support network.
Before and after the program, parents answered surveys about confidence and community help.
What they found
After FACES, parents felt more ready to fight for therapy, school help, and doctor visits.
They also said they felt less alone and gave the program top marks for usefulness.
How this fits with other research
Loughrey et al. (2014) showed Black families in North Carolina get fewer autism services. FACES gives parents tools to close that gap.
Zhang et al. (2022) found private insurance still denies many autism claims. FACES adds parent voice to push back against those denials.
Thompson et al. (2025) moved parent-level advocacy to big state policy. FACES graduates could use the same checklist to fight for higher Medicaid rates.
Why it matters
You can copy FACES in your city. Run six short sessions that mix legal rights, role-play, and peer support. Track parent confidence with a quick survey. Graduates leave knowing how to demand ABA, speech, and school plans instead of waiting on lists.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Invite five Black caregivers to a lunch-and-learn; share a one-page rights handout and schedule the first FACES-style meeting.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children with autism and their families often face challenges accessing early intervention and related services. African American children face additional challenges due to disparities in diagnoses and access to services. These disparities present a great need for parent advocacy to combat culturally insensitive service delivery and strained parent-professional partnerships. In this sequential mixed methods study, we piloted a 6-week parent-training intervention (FACES) among African American parents of children with autism and evaluated participants' empowerment, advocacy, and partnerships pre- and postintervention. Results indicated that parents' advocacy, sense of empowerment, and community support were strengthened, following the FACES program. Participants also described the FACES intervention as socially valid. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-59.2.155